Lucky for the Baltimore Jewish community you changed career paths.  

I originally went to college to become an accountant. My grandfather was an accountant, my father was a math teacher and an engineer. Yet I realized, once I took a few math courses, they just weren’t that interesting to me. I decided to take some criminal justice courses and here I am. 

How did you end up in Baltimore? 

In the ‘70s, it was hard for a college grad to get a job in the police force. At that time, there wasn’t that much turnover in the police force. In fact, most of the police departments in northern New Jersey weren’t hiring. I remember attending a job fair in New Jersey, in which Baltimore Police Department sent some people up to recruit. I applied, they called, and I was accepted into the Baltimore Police Academy. 

Tell me about your job. 

I spent most of my career as a Criminal Investigator serving in the Criminal Investigation Division, Internal Investigation Division, Special Operations Division and was a member of the DEA Task Force. I worked undercover in the housing projects in East and West Baltimore, and also undercover with the DEA. 

In 2004, I was promoted to Major, where I served as the Commanding Officer of the Organized Crime Division, Director of the Internal Investigation Division and Commander of the Northwestern District. In 2009, I retired on a Friday and started my job with The Associated, working at the Baltimore Jewish Council, the following Monday. 

What are you most proud of since you joined BJC? 

Over the years, we’ve expanded our work to provide security assessments, emergency plans and assistance with security grant applications to go beyond support of The Associated – to now include synagogues, day schools and Jewish organizations across the State from the Eastern Shore to Western Maryland. Baltimore was part of a pilot for the national SCN Emergency Alert System. When we started, I think I had 14-15 people on our list. Today, that list is near 300. 

Over the years, you must have picked up personal safety tips. Anything you can share that people may not know about.  

Most of it is common sense but one should always be aware of their surroundings and when you are out in the public pay more attention to who and what is around you and not your cell phone or electronic device. 

What have you then learned about the Jewish community? 

I had never been in the Northwest until I started working in the Northwestern District, later in my police career … It was amazing. The people were really nice and what was incredible to me – they actually had solutions! As District Commander, I was involved when Shomrim (an organization dedicated to the safety of the Northwest Baltimore region) and the Northwest Citizens Patrol.